Studio models (films)

This list is of all new model designs that first appeared in all Star Trek films. Information on models that represented a single design can be found in the articles linked below. Information on models that were recycled or refurbished to represent different vessels or props from different species in all series' will be listed herein.

The studio model of the SD-103-type, built especially for The Undiscovered Country was a purely Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the company contracted to do the visual effects for the movie, initiative, since scene 24 of the movie script did not foresee in one. The concept originated from the brain of ILM's Visual Effects Art Director Bill George, when he was conceiving a visual effects shot for the movie. He clarified, "When Kirk and the others head up to the spacedock to reboard their ship, we really wanted to open the film up and show the grandeur of space. Immediately I thought of 2001 – in particular, the docking sequence between the Orion space clipper and the double-wheeled Space Station One. I also got the bug in my mind to do an angle on the spacedock that hadn't been done before. I looked at at the model from all angles, and eventually ended up lying down on the ground to look up at it before I realized that was the perfect shot – it hadn't been done before, plus it was the natural angle of approach if you were coming up from Earth." George decided to beef out the shot with a new shuttle model. While Paramount Pictures had shuttle models available from the previous outings, The Search for Spock and The Final Frontier, George decided nevertheless to have a new one built. This was partly due of George being a consummate modelmaker (he had started out at ILM as such) and, though it was strictly speaking not his job anymore, he could not refrain himself from building another one, as studio model requirements were very light for ILM on this particular outing. All other models featured in the movie, including some on which George himself had previously participated in their builds, were reuses from earlier productions. He had John Goodson design one, and together they build the model, or as he has put it, "We designed and constructed a new shuttlecraft model just for this shot, the only new model we got to do this time. It was done very quickly – in a week – and was about sixteen inches long." (Cinefex, issue 49, p. 48)
George and Goodman embellished the model by endowing the ventral side with several add-ons that had their origins in AMT/ErtlStar Trek model kits. So did the model feature two nacelle caps with Bussard collectors of the Enterprise-D model kit (No. 6619) as well as warp nacelle from the Romulan warbird model kit (No. 6858). Unfortunately for them, no dorsal views were seen of their model in the movie, though the tips of the Enterprise Bussard collectors were.

The model made a reappearance in Star Trek Generations as two unnamed SD-103 type shuttlecraft from the USS Farragut, sent down to the surface of Veridian III to pick up the survivors of the crashed USS Enterprise-D. However, since the actual model was by that time already modified and altered, the shot of the shuttle in flight was actually stock footage from The Undiscovered Country, but flopped and altered in post-production by adding the blue Farragut signage. The one seen on the saucer of the crashed Enterprise-D was not even a model but part of the matte painting that was done at ILM for the scene. (Cinefex, issue 61, p. 77) Still, a second model was in effect constructed for the movie, albeit a tiny one. It was built to go with the modified NAR-30974spacedock model, carried over from The Motion Picture, as atmosphere, and it could be seen, though only just barely, parked, when the USS Enterprise-B left spacedock at the beginning of the movie.

Dan Curry touching up the USS Jenolan model for its use in "Relics" at Image G

Ventral side of the original studio model, showing its AMT/Ertl add-ons

The model refurbished as the USS "Jenolin"

The USS Jenolan model, ¼ profile view

The model refurbished as the USS Nash, ¾ dorsal view

The USS Nash model at auction

The tiny NAR-30974 model at auction

In between the two movies, the original model itself was heavily modified by Greg Jein, who added warp engines to the model, with components derived from the Constitution-class and Miranda-class models, and given the look of a full starship with several decks, to appear as the Sydney-class. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Special Edition), text commentary; TNG Season 6 DVD-special feature, "Departmental Briefing Year Six - Production") Jein also extensively refurbished the dorsal side by endowing the original smoother surface by adding the bridge and deflector crystal assembly modules, as well as the ventral side by removing George's original add-ons and replacing them with add-ons in order to convey the sense of the model being a larger scaled ship. The now Sydney-class model initially appeared as USS Jenolan, though Jein or one of his modelers actually mislabeled the ship as "Jenolin", in "Relics", where the misspelled name however, was never clearly discernible (that was until 2014, when the episode was remastered and where it could be discerned that the name was not digitally corrected). Later, the model appeared, flipped over and relabeled, as the USS Nash in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "Playing God" (season 2), "Accession" (Season 4), "Trials and Tribble-ations" (Season 5) and "Chrysalis" (Season 7). As usual with the television appearances of studio models, footage of this model for its appearances in both series was shot at Image G, the company were Erik Nash worked as motion control camera operator, and whose name was given to the model for its Deep Space Nine appearances. (Cinefantastique, Vol 25 #6/Vol 26 #1, p. 102) It's accompanying registry number though, "NCC-2010-5", harkened back to the one the model was endowed with in its previous use as the Jenolan, "NCC-2010", and as far as in-universe usage of the Starfleet registry numbering system went, an odd one at that, as this was the only time that a ship was given a number of another class vessel addended with what appeared to be a follow number. Actually, since Deep Space Nine was already in pre-production at the time of "Relics", the modified model was seriously considered by Production Designer Herman Zimmerman and the producers to serve as the regular runabout shuttlecraft for the namesake station. Yet, it was ultimately decided to pass over the model in favor of the Danube-class, though the model served as a starting point for its design. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 10, p. 54)

The Sydney-class model (measuring 16½"x11"x4") was listed as lot 704 in the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collectionauction with an estimated sale price of US$4,000 - $6,000; it sold on 7 October 2006 for US$22,000 ($26,400 with premium). The tiny SD-103 type model was of course part of the spacedock model, which sold as lot 995in the same auction on the same day for US$8,000 ($9,600 with premium), originally estimated at US$3,000 - $5,000. That model was acquired by American collector Adam Schneider, who managed to acquire several models from the auction. [1]